Dog's eye is closed.

Species: DogBreed: cavalier king charleAge: 6-12 months

Hello,
My dog was playing with his toy and shaking it around and when he was shaking his toy around he ran into the corner of a wooden post. He gave it a good knock but he just seemed to shake his head and walked off.
An hour later we noticed that his left eye is red and he keeps shutting it.
I've tried ringing my local vet (and others) but they are closed (being xmas holidays).

I think his eye my be abit swallon from the knock as I don't think he has something in his eye as I think he would be scratching his eye if there was something in it. I have him in his bed just resting at the moment.

Do I put a cold press on his eye or just leave it? The vets arn't open until the 2nd of jan so in 2 days time so I will get him checked out then I'm just not sure what to do in the interim?

My dog is 11 months of age

Dr. Marie replied:

Sorry to hear that your dog may have hurt himself! This is a tough question to answer without being able to examine him as there could be a few possibilities.

It certainly is possible that he has just bruised himself and that it will take a day or two for the swelling to go down. But, I do get concerned when I see a dog keeping their eye closed. My concern is that there could be a scratch on the eye. A corneal scratch is a serious thing. You won't always see a dog scratching at the eye if there is a scratch there. Closing the eye is enough evidence that it is bothersome.

At this point, if you have not seen significant improvement then I would highly recommend having an emergency visit if you can get one. While it is possible that there is nothing serious going on, if there is actually a scratch there then it needs to be addressed very quickly.

If things seem to have improved somewhat since you posted your question then there is no harm in putting a cold compress (i.e. frozen peas) on the side of the eye if he will allow it. This will help with swelling. But, if there has been no improvement then it's best to be safe than sorry and have a vet take a look.

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Dr. Marie is a veterinarian who practices in a busy animal hospital in Ottawa, Ontario. She created Ask A Vet Question as a resource for good, accurate veterinary advice online. Dr. Marie treats dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, and rats. She has been a vet since 1999.

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